In a PDP device, an auto power control (APC) for changing the number (N) of sustain pulses of a subfield and adjusting the luminance and the power of display according to a display load ratio (H) of an image (display data) and the like and a control (hereinafter, referred to as sustain pulse cycle (C) control) for changing the sustain pulse cycle (C) of the subfield and enhancing the peak luminance according to the display load ratio (H) are conventionally known. The length (light emitting time) of a sustain period (Ts) can be changed in an increasing or decreasing manner by such controls (hereinafter, referred to as sustain period control).
In the sustain pulse cycle (C) control, the display load ratio (H) for every subfield is detected, and the sustain pulse cycle (C) is shortened only for the subfields having low display load ratio (H). The variation time (total value) in all the subfields generated as a result is distributed to each subfield so as to increase the number (N) of sustain pulses while maintaining the luminance weighting of each subfield. Such sustain pulse cycle (C) control is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-337568 (Patent Document 1).
An example of technology for varying the sustain pulse cycle (pulse width) in a subfield is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-280571 (Patent Document 2). According to this technique, the pulse width is varied considering the sustain voltage (Vs).
Note that, in most conventional PDP devices, the sustain pulse cycle (C) of the sustain period of all the subfields in one field in a predetermined control is constant (only one type). Further, conventionally, there has not been proposed a technique of adjusting the timing of the subfield and the like using a combination of a plurality of sustain pulse cycles (C) in the sustain period like the present invention.